Over the past several years, motorized personal vehicles have become quite ubiquitous. Exemplary motorized personal vehicles include bicycles, scooters and skateboards. In particular, skateboards have gained tremendous popularity, not only as recreational vehicles but also as genuine modes of commuter transportation. More recently, electric motorized skateboards have become popular. Such skateboards are typically powered by a DC battery powered motor mounted to the underside of a skateboard deck. An output shaft is mechanically linked to a selected one or both of the rear pair of wheels. Control of the motor is provided by a handheld input device that is configured to generate an input for forward and, in some examples, a reverse acceleration signal for transmission to an on-board controller through a wired or wireless connection. The handheld input device may include a trigger-like actuator that may be used for generating the input acceleration signal that results in the energizing of the electric motor for desired forward or rearward movement of the skateboard. Discussions relating to exemplary motorized personal vehicles can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,061,725; 9,004,213; 9,387,388; 9,950,244; and 10,245,936, all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
One aspect of these personal vehicles that greatly affects the quality or enjoyment of a user's ride are the wheels. Various wheel characteristics, such as wheel size and hardness, play an important part of the “feel” of the ride experienced by a user, not to mention that particular surfaces upon which the wheels roll lend themselves to particular wheel types and sizes. The wheels of a skateboard are commonly made of polyurethane and come in many different sizes and shapes to suit different styles of skating. Larger diameter wheels (55 mm to 85 mm or 2.17 inches to 3.35 inches) roll faster and move more easily over cracks in pavement and are better for transition skateboarding. Smaller diameter wheels (48 mm to 54 mm or 1.89 inches to 2.13 inches) keep the board closer to the ground, require less force to accelerate and produce a lower center of gravity which allows for a better response time, but also make for a slower top speed. Wheels also are available in a variety of hardnesses usually measured on the Shore durometer “A” scale. Wheels range from the very soft (about Shore A 75) to the very hard (about Shore A 101). As the A scale stops at 100, any wheels labeled 101A or higher are harder, but do not use the appropriate durometer scale. Some wheel manufacturers now use the “B” or “D” scales, which have a larger and more accurate range of hardness. Modern street skaters typically prefer medium-sized wheels (usually 51 mm to 54 mm or 2.01 inches to 2.13 inches), as small wheels with lighter trucks (the front and rear axle assemblies that connect the wheels to the deck and provide the turning capabilities for the board) can make tricks like kickflips and other flip tricks easier by keeping the center of gravity of the skateboard closer to the deck, thus making the deck easier to spin. Street wheels are harder (A 100/A 101). Vertical ramp or “vert” skating requires larger wheels (usually 55 mm to 65 mm or 2.17 inches to 2.56 inches), as it involves higher speeds. Vert wheels are also usually slightly softer (A 98/A 99), allowing them to maintain high speed on ramps without sliding. Slalom skating requires even larger wheels (60 mm to 75 mm or 2.36 inches to 2.95 inches) to sustain the highest speeds possible. They also need to be soft and have better grip to make the tight and frequent turns in slalom racing. Even larger wheels may be used in longboarding and downhill skateboarding. Modern wheel sizes generally range from 60 mm to 100 mm (2.36 inches to 3.94 inches). These extreme sizes of wheels almost always have wheel cores of hard plastic that can be made thinner and lighter than a solid polyurethane wheel.
Motorized personal vehicles, such as motorized skateboards and scooters, can utilize a wheel mount onto which a wheel, having a desired shape, size and hardness, is mounted. Wheels consists of two parts: the wheel core and the pour. The name “pour” comes from the manufacturing process used to make that portion of the wheel that contacts the ground. Various manufacturers provide wheels having not only different shapes and sizes, but also have different wheel cores having different configurations, sizes and apertures/openings into which lugs of a wheel mount fit to thereby mount the wheels. Various manufacturers make proprietary wheels having various proprietary wheel core contours or configurations. For example, a wheel core may have a plurality of circular apertures or non-circular apertures or apertures with ribs, or any other type of configuration into which lugs of a wheel mount fit into. Accordingly, lugs on wheel mounts for use with such wheel cores are limited to being specifically and complementarily sized and shaped so as to fit into one specific wheel core. In order for a user to utilize different wheels having different wheel core configurations, it is required that the user have a specific wheel mount for each type of wheel. That is, to change between wheels having different wheel core configurations requires that a user utilize a different wheel mount having lugs that are shaped and are specific to the particular lug aperture/contours of a particular wheel core.
Therefore, there is a need for a wheel mount for a personal vehicle that is not limited for use with one a specific wheel core having a specific wheel core configuration, but rather can be utilized with wheels having different wheel core configurations. There is a further need for a wheel mount for a personal vehicle having lugs shaped to provide for the mounting and use of various wheels irrespective of their wheel core apertures to thus obviate the need and limitation of utilizing wheel-specific wheel mounts.
Various aspects of the personal vehicle wheel mount disclosed herein addresses these needs. In particular examples, the wheel mounts are for a skateboard or scooter, and more particularly for a motorized skateboard or scooter, as discussed below.